Caley Stan

Graham cleared things up for us in yesterday's papers by insisting that that he's a donkey, not a chicken. Straight from the horse’s mouth:

"Marius really benefited from having someone doing the donkey work for him against Killie.

"I don't care if I have to do a lot of the spadework, especially if we win 3-1".

Bayne was also dishing out loads of praise for Marius and says the goals will come:

"It was the same with Craig Dargo when he was here. He struggled to score initially and then went on to hit an absolute barrow load for us."

With all this talk of donkeys and barrow loads, i just hope he manages to keep his feet on the ground.

Let's hope that whoever's flashing the cash hasn't been watching him over the last couple of weeks.

Marius was supposed to be playing up front against Falkirk but it he ended up getting dragged back into midfield as this was where most of the game was played. He did some good work there, winning headers and releasing Rankin a couple of times but JR fluffed his chances. I don't remember Marius having a shot on goal in the whole game. 

Against Killie he was absolutely immense. Playing behind Bayne he found himself in space time after time and we played some beautiful football through him in the second half.

I assume that you refer to our finances and not our playing staff when you call us "the most thinly resourced team in the SPL". We might pay the smallest wages and have one of the smallest home gates but we do appear to a have a bigger and stronger squad than some of the teams around us.

Teams with thin resources have done it before. Since the turn of the century the following non-OF teams have qualified to represent Scotland in Europe:

Hearts (3 times), Aberdeen (3), Kilmarnock (2), Dunfermline (2), Hibs, Livingston, Dundee Gretna and St. Johnstone.

Teams of our size (and smaller) do qualify for Europe and i'm sure we would do lot better than the likes of Dunfermline and Gretna if we got our chance.

Bayne's running, passion and commitment have never been in doubt but people have rightly expressed concern about his touch and finishing. He's also got a reputation as 'headless chicken' which suggests that he runs all over the place but not into the right places. This side of Bayne's game has definitely improved and can only improve with Brew as his tutor. He won me over around this time last year when he played a couple of games with Wyness and linked really well with him. He doesn't score many goals but has a great habit of getting really important ones. Bayne hasn't been fully fit all season but now he is and he shows so much hunger when he comes off the bench.

Brew has a big decision to make on Wednesday.

Great drama, crazy game and most importantly 3 more points. They didn't look likely points as we invited Hearts onto us again and again in the second half but along with a bit of luck, our fighting spirit and belief saw us through at the end. No little skill on display either. First goal was a great move and a great strike and just watch the way Russeldinho turns defence into attack for the penalty. He was immense throughout as was Black who shouldn't have hooked. McBain had a great first half and Mikey's handling was superb. What more do you want? Well a solid defence would be nice. We always look vulnerable at the back and i think the full-backs are often responsible for this because they stand off for too long when teams drive at them. Tokely was great in the air but i'd still bring Proctor back on Wednesday.

Niculae! What the feck can you say about the guy. He stopped running after and hour and somehow stayed on the pith 'til the end. A really weird display from the big man. He is at least involved in things higher up the pitch now and if he wins us a penalty every week then we can't complain i suppose - but what a weird big lump of a player he is.

I'd take 8 points. 2 home wins and 2 away draws.

My contact, who is never wrong informed me that he has signed for Killie and has doubled his wages. done deal

Is this the same contact that told you Lee Bullen would be our new assistant manager and that Blackie would definitely start against St. Mirren?

SFA website has both have down for 3pm, i'd like to think we'd have been told by now if there was any change. If the police can handle simultaneous full houses at Murrayfield and Tynecastle surely they can handle this.

Kingston's injured and Stewart's suspended. They've still got a few decent midfielders thought. Jonsson looks quite good and Driver will cause us problems. I do wonder though, if some of these guys have the stomach for a midfield battle with the likes of Duncan and Blackie. 

Just bought mine over the phone. They say that if the ticket doesn't arrive in the post by Friday they can get Hearts to print a duplicate to be picked up from the ticket office. ?2.50 booking fee is a bit OTT.

That's right, it was the 0-0 game. In fairness to Blackie, he wasn't the only one who lost the head a bit that day.  We were lucky to get draws in both of the Dunfermline games that have been mentioned. How times have changed.......

Definite penalty and ref didn't have the balls to send Pressley off. The incident also proved what i think most people already knew - Elvis is past it. 

"We had all the possession, all the chances and all the decisions went against us"

Gordon Strachan - w@nker

If Brewster turns out to be the making of ICT over the next few seasons then it will have been more by luck than good judgment on the part of those who appointed him, IMO.

I don't get that. Didn't the people who appointed Brewster work with him over a year in his first spell. Surely they knew exactly what they were getting.

Today's Herald says the shortlist is down to four names: Joe Jordan, Billy Davies, Mark McGhee and Feckin Souness. The article goes on to say:

"The possibility of a senior figurehead, such as Kenny Dalglish, working with a younger, less experienced coach is also an outside possibility."

Didn't Celtic try that once?

By my rekoning, we have 16 points from a possible 36 (12 games) under brewster. Thats less than average in my book

It's 11 games and it's certainly not below average, it's top 6 form.

If that form was repeated over 33 games then we would have 48 points - a total which would've given us a top 6 finish in any of our previous SPL seasons.

In my book that's above average but maybe you're book has us challenging for Europe in an average season.

Or 4-2-3-1 as Jim Spence described it.

Maybe it's worth sticking with it for the Hibs and Celtic games at least.

We're four points from 6th and 11 from bottom.

Under Brewster we've won 16 points from a possible 33 having played each of the other teams once since he took over.

This is a magnificent achievement considering the circumstances in which he took over and he should be applauded by the supporters - especially those who were calling for his head a fortnight ago. 

Just voted for Levein after a few days of thinking about little else.

My personal favourite Davie Moyes has unsurprisingly ruled himself out but says he would like the job someday. Another name doing the rounds today is Roy Hodgson who's just quit the Finland job.

An Englishman he may be but he certainly has a lot of experience coaching average international teams.

Anyway, Levein for me. His league record at Hearts was fantastic and the way he's turned United around is really impressive. They don't deserve him.

The statistics speak for themselves.

Yup, Bayne and Brewster with a 100% record!

Wyness is doubtful with a hamstring injury so i'd got for those two tomorrow if Brew's up to it.

Here's the 20-man squad from the BBC website:

Fraser, Hastings, McCaffrey, Munro, McGuire, Black, Duncan, Rankin, McBain, Cowie, Vigurs, Wilson, Wyness, Niculae, McDonald, Malkowski, Proctor, Hart, Kerr, McAllister.

Sportsound just confirmed that McLeish is top of Birmingham's list.

Other names being chucked around as a possible replacement are Jim Jeffries and Joe Jordan.

Where did the Joh Rankin fan club appear from?

He's always the first man to go missing on the field when the chips are down and before we start laying into Brewster for this, remember that CC dropped at times last season and just before he left this season.

We need fighters in the team this year and Rankin has never shown himself to be one.

Aston Villa finished 6th, 10th and 16th in the three seasons that O'Leary and Aitken spent there.

They had a good start but it can hardly be described as a success story.

Aitken hasn't been a manager since he was sacked by Aberdeen 10 years ago. This is not the sort of pedigree we should be looking for if and when McLeish leaves.

David Moyes should be the number one choice. How much further can he realistically take Everton?

We should break the bank to try and get him and if he doesn't fancy it then turn to another manager who has a proven take record of getting the best out of his players. Craig Levein is such a manager.

Souness doesn't even warrant comment.